Welcome Home, Phil
by holysmokesphan
Summary: Phil goes away to be in the army for four years as it was something he always wanted to do as a child, leaving Dan, his husband, home alone. Fast forward four years and Phil comes home, surprising Dan.


To say the past four years have been difficult for Dan would be an understatement.

It was four years ago when Dan's husband left to be in the army. Dan couldn't be mad at him though, because he knew that going in the army was something that he really wanted to do.

Dan had to stay home by himself, though he had his friends and family to help him, it just still wasn't the same without Phil. He had missed Phil the whole time and worried about him nonstop. He didn't know what was going on out there; of course Dan and Phil tried to send each other letters whenever they possibly could, but it was hard, for obvious reasons.

Now that four years have passed, and Dan knew that Phil would be coming home any day now. He was more than excited; he couldn't wait to be able to talk to Phil in person, hug him and kiss him and just... hear his voice. Four years was a long time, especially for Dan.

Dan had taken up teaching while Phil was away. He needed something to distract him from moping around the house and missing Phil constantly. Dan and Phil used to do youtube videos together, but that wasn't enough to help pay the bills now that it was just Dan. Being a teacher wasn't exactly the best job in the world for money, but it was definitely better than nothing. Dan had been a good student when he was in school, and English was his favorite subject, so that's what he ended up teaching and he was okay with that. He loved his students, even though they could be a pain in the ass for him sometimes.

"Just a few more days. You can make it a few more days," Dan whispered to himself as he walked into his classroom. It was a Monday morning, and Dan absolutely hated Monday's.

"Mr. Howell, are you talking to yourself again?" One of the girls who was already in the classroom asked. She couldn't help but giggle when she saw the look on his face.

"I talk to myself sometimes when I'm stressed," Dan answered as he walked over to the desk.

"What could you be stressed about?" One of the boys asked.

Dan rolled his eyes at the boy, Randy Atkins. Randy was definitely one of the trouble makers in his class, always starting something with someone each day. Dan didn't like him... at all.

"Well, let's see. I never have a day off because I'm too busy grading tests and quizzes and homework each night, my husband has been gone for four years because he's in the army which means that I have to stay home by myself and pay the bills. So, yeah... I'd say I have a good reason to be stressed," Dan snapped. "Class hasn't even started yet. Really Randy?"

"What? I haven't done anything," Randy said with a slight smirk.

"You're being annoying, that's what your doing," the same girl said.

Dan couldn't help but chuckle. "You had homework last night. Better check to see if you've done it before class starts," he murmured before he sat in his chair and turned on his computer.

"Mr. Howell? How come we've never heard about your husband before," Emily said.

Dan sighed slightly before he looked over at the students again. "Because I miss him quite a lot and I get sad when I have to talk about him. I haven't seen him in four years," he said.

"Is he coming home soon?" Jessica asked, smiling a bit.

"Yes... very soon actually. Hopefully any day now," Dan answered.

"How long have you been with him?" Emily asked curiously.

"You ask a lot of questions, don't you?" Dan asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Yes," Jessica said. "I should know... I live with her!"

Dan laughed. "Let's see. I met him when I was 16, and then we married when I was 23... and now I'm 32. We've been together in total, 16 years. Does that answer your question?"

"16 years is a long time to be with someone. Wow!" Emily exclaimed.

"It is but it doesn't seem that long, trust me," Dan said. He smiled a bit as he glanced over at a photo that was sitting on his desk, of him and Phil when they were younger and had just met.

Dan sighed as he looked up at the clock on the wall, wishing the day would just end so he could go home. He immediately looked over when he heard knocking at the door. "Come in," he called as he started grading the homework from today's classes again. Dan heard the door open but he still didn't look up, only looked down at the millions of papers in front of him.

There was only fifteen minutes until lunch, which meant he had a whole hour to himself, the class period before lunch was always the worst because they were all hungry just like him.

"Good afternoon Mr. Howell,"

Dan looked over and gasped as soon as he saw who was standing at the door.

Phil; there he was, in the flesh. Dressed in his army uniform. Dan actually almost didn't recognize him with his hair gone. Last time he saw him, he had a fringe. Though luckily Dan knew that Phil would have to cut his hair going into the army so he wasn't surprised at all.

"Oh my God, Phil," Dan whispered before he stood up and ran over to him, flinging his arms around him and hugging him tightly. He didn't even care that the students were staring at them. Dan's been waiting four years to be able to see Phil again, he wasn't holding back.

"Surprise," Phil whispered as he wrapped his arms around Dan and hugged him tightly.

"I missed you so much," Dan whispered, closing his eyes as a couple of tears slipped out of his eyes. "I can't believe you're here..." He finally pulled away from Phil. "I thought you weren't supposed to be here for another couple of days?" Dan asked quietly.

"I got released early, and I didn't waste any time on getting home," Phil whispered.

Dan looked up at Phil with watery eyes. "Four years, it's been," he whispered.

"I know," Phil smiled and he kissed Dan with all the passion he had in him.

"Uh, Mr. Howell?" One of the students finally said.

Dan jumped slightly and he immediately pulled away from Phil, and then he looked back over at the class and sighed. "Oh, I almost forgot I had a class to teach," he said.

"Don't worry Mr. Howell..."

Dan looked over and was surprised when he saw the principal, Mr. Baldwin.

"I called the school this morning to let them know I was coming," Phil said.

"You told the school before you told me?" Dan asked, frowning slightly.

"I told you! I wanted it to be a surprise," Phil laughed.

Dan rolled his eyes but he couldn't help but smile. "Of course," he said.

"You can have the week off, just this once. Luckily Phil explained the situation," Mr. Baldwin said. "We'll find a sub to teach your class so you don't have to worry about that."

"Oh my God. Thank you so much! This means a lot to me, to us," Dan said.

"Go on. Get out of here," Mr. Baldwin said with a slight smile.

Dan smiled. He walked over to his desk and grabbed his cell phone and his wallet, before he walked back over to Phil and grabbed his hand. "God, I can't believe you're back," he said.

"You already said that," Phil said. He chuckled as he followed Dan.

Dan stopped walking for a second and then he looked over at Phil and smiled. "You came home just in time. Working at this school has just been so stressful, and I was on the verge of a breakdown," he said. He walked closer to Phil and hugged him tightly.

"I feel terrible for leaving you like that," Phil whispered as he wrapped his arms around Dan and hugged him tightly. "I'm here now, and I'm not going anywhere anytime soon."

"Don't feel bad. I know how much you wanted to do this," Dan whispered.

"Should we go home?" Phil asked, looking down at Dan and smiling.

"Let's," Dan said as he looked up at Phil with a grin on his face.

Dan and Phil wasted no time in getting home.

"I've missed this place," Phil said as they walked into the house, still holding hands.

"Well, it missed you. Not as much as I did but..." Dan laughed.

"God, I missed your laugh. Writing letters to each other just wasn't the same," Phil said.

"No, it definitely wasn't," Dan agreed. He led Phil up the stairs to their bedroom. He turned around and wrapped his arms around Phil's neck once they were there. "I missed you."

"I missed you," Phil whispered before he kissed Dan. "So much."

Dan gasped in surprise when Phil pushed him down on the bed. "It's been too long since there's been two people in this bed," he moaned as Phil began to kiss him again.

"It's been too long since I've slept in a proper bed," Phil said. He lay down beside Dan, keeping his arms wrapped around him. "God, I'm so glad to be home."

"Tonight you get to sleep without worrying about anything," Dan whispered as he turned and rested his head on Phil's chest. "And I get to sleep in peace tonight knowing you're safe."

Phil chuckled as he looked down at Dan. "We have four years of cuddles to catch up on,"

"Damn right we do!" Dan smiled as he looked up at Phil. "I'm happy you're home, and safe."

"I'm happy too. I'm just... happy to be home with my husband again," Phil said.

Dan reached up and kissed Phil a few more times before he cuddled up close to him.

"I love you Bear," Phil whispered as he looked down at Dan.

Dan's eyes began to water up slightly. "It's been four years since someone called me that,"

"Really?" Phil asked, a little surprised. "What about your family?"

"Nope. They don't really call me that anymore," Dan sighed.

"I'm going to call you Bear every single day from now on then," Phil told him.

"Welcome home Phil," Dan said with a smile on his face. A real genuine smile.

It's been awhile since Dan's smiled like that.


End file.
